Geneva’s St. Peter Community Food Pantry marks 40 years

GENEVA – The St. Peter Community Food Pantry marks its 40th year in May as it continues serving about 350 families on the second and fourth Wednesdays every month.

“In the beginning, we served 35 families,” said David LaPalomento, one of three pantry co-directors, along with Jan O’Kray and Bobbie Mulholland.

O’Kray said during the recession in 2013, the pantry served as many as 500 families for several months.

“Now we’re averaging a little over a thousand individuals per month,” O’Kray said.

Being able to assist people with food is tied to their Christian faith, O’Kray said.

“You are getting to know these people as individuals and finding out what their issues are and walking in their steps, and we are able to see the Lord is alive with blessings,” O’Kray said. “It’s not us doing it. It’s us being the hands of Christ that help.”

About 70% of the food is delivered from the Northern Illinois Food Bank in Geneva. A semitruck drops off five to six skids of groceries, LaPalomento said. The pantry buys the rest of the food from local groceries, especially fresh produce.

The pantry also runs food drives for staples such as soup, canned fruit and beans.

The church has a Friendship Garden that grows fresh vegetables for the pantry, and people who rent in the Geneva Community Gardens donate their excess, LaPalomento said.

“All of our customers are very conscious of eating healthy and so they do try to get a balanced meal,” LaPalomento said. “And we try very hard to make sure that all kinds of vegetables and whole food groups are represented on our shelves.”

The pantry is set up for customer choice shopping, he said. During the pandemic, they had a drive-thru pantry and gave out prepackaged food, LaPalomento said.

“And when COVID calmed down, we wore masks for quite a while,” LaPalomento said. “We reopened customer choice shopping last spring.”

The pantry is all-volunteer, with about 50 people assisting to stock the shelves before the distribution days and 20 to 30 people during the distribution days, O’Kray said.

On those two days of the month, the pantry is open in the morning from 8 to 11 a.m. and in the evening from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

For the 40th anniversary, pantry volunteers will be cooking breakfast sandwiches until about 9:30 or 10 a.m., O’Kray said, and then switch to hotdogs and chips. Volunteers will start grilling again for the evening distribution.

“All our volunteers and clients will be able to take advantage of that,” O’Kray said.

Part of the pantry’s mission statement is to be a resource to live the message Jesus gave.

“Our food pantry operates to serve those in need in a kind, loving and respectful manner,” it states in part. “We come together to fulfill the gospel message to treat others as we want to be treated. We spend this time together joyfully in the presence of the Spirit.”

“We are proud to serve all people in need, no matter of their faith or lack of thereof,” LaPalomento said.

The pantry is located at 1891 Kaneville Road in Geneva.